Lehigh Valley Real Estate Blog, Home Buying & Selling Information

Buying a Home when you have a Home to Sell in the Lehigh Valley

So, you already own a home in the Lehigh Valley but you wish to buy a new home (as your primary residence). What are your options if you have to sell Home 1 in order to purchase Home 2?

Ideally, you would list your current home, find a Lehigh Valley Home Buyer who makes an acceptable offer, then pursue making an offer on your next home. Your offer on the new home would be contingent on the settlement of your first home. This is known as a Home Settlement Contingency. If for some reason the buyer of your home doesn't work out you are not legally required to purchase the new home. When you have a home to sell, this gives you the most negotiation power.

Unfortunately, the above scenario causes a major concern. What happens if you Sell Your Lehigh Valley Home but you haven't found a home to purchase? This is the risk taken to give you the most negotation power on your new home. It can also leave you homeless.

Okay, what are the options if you don't want to do it this way.

Unfortunately, the other three options may cause you money and/or negotiation power.

Option 1) List your home but make any buyer aware that the sale of your home to them is contingent on you finding a new home. Typically, this means the buyer of your home will give you a month or two to find a home (negotiable). If you don't find it, the deal with the buyer is canceled. This is a risk to your buyer so as a result they may offer a lower price (to give you the needed time with no guarantees they will be buying the home).

Problems: Lehigh Valley Home Buyer negotiates lower price to give you the needed time to find a home. You probably can't pursue a Short Sale Property because of the unknown timeline of bank approval.

Option 2) Make an offer on the new home with a Sale and Settlement Contingency. This means that the seller of the home you wish to purchase will remove their home from the market and give you time to list your home as well as find a good qualified buyer. If your good buyer ends up not being able to close, you can cancel the contract with the seller of the home you are buying. This is a big negative to the home seller. They pull their home off the market and put the risk on you selling your home.

Problems: You probably can't purchase a Bank Owned (REO/Foreclosure) property. Banks don't want to see home sale contingencies of any type and definitely not one that requires you to list and sell your home. A higher price, to offset this negative, will probably not work with the bank like it might on a person selling their own home.

Option 3) I've seen some buyers search for homes, find one they like, then list their home. They don't put an offer on the home they like but hope that they will receive an offer on their home quickly so they can place an offer on the new home.

Problems: You might have to set the price on your home lower than you might have because you want to sell it fast in order to purchase the other home. While you are going through the process of listing and marketing your home, the other home might sell.

If you have any specific questions about the process, please contact me. In the meantime, please visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com for all of your real estate information.

Should I Sell My Lehigh Valley Home During the Winter

Opinions on Selling Your Lehigh Valley Home during the Winter months vary depending on who you ask. 

What I can tell you:

Lehigh Valley Home Sellers that don't have to sell over the holiday/snow months will typically take their home off the market. As a result, the inventory tends to go down.

Home Buyers that are out looking at Lehigh Valley Homes over the cold/wintry months tend to be motivated. You tend to have less tire kickers and more "We want to buy a home now" showings.

Most home sellers think, "We'll wait and sell it in the spring". Their home, which may be one of a few during the winter, may be come one of many in the spring.

It may be beneficial to list your home during these "down" times.

For all of your Lehigh Valley Real Estate Information, visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com

Lehigh Valley Home Buyer Property Inspections

As part of a home purchase, Lehigh Valley Home Buyers usually get a Property Inspection sometimes called a home inspection.

The Property Inspection is done to find problems or material deficiencies in the home. Depending on the results of the inspection, the buyer may ask the seller for repairs. If the home seller doesn't agree, the buyer may opt to walk away from the sale.

Some of the problems are clear cut.

There is an electrical problem with an outlet in the kitchen. The home buyer would like it repaired.

Others problems are in the gray area.

The furnace is 25 years old. The average lifetime on this furnace is 20 years. It looks good and is working great. It may work another year or it may last 10 more years.

The electric problem in the kitchen is a clearly defined deficiency, Asking for the repair is justified.

The Lehigh Valley Home Seller will probably not agree to replace a furnace that is in good working condition regardless of the age.

Maintaining a home is part of home ownership and things are going to break. Some items are pointed out in a Property Inspection to forewarn the buyer that they will need to fix or replace something down the road.

For all of your Lehigh Valley Real Estate Information, visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com

Selling Your Lehigh Valley Home in the Winter

As last weekend proved, home owners may be in for a tough winter in the Lehigh Valley. 6-10 inches of snow and many households losing electricity probably put a damper on many Halloween parties. I was supposed to go to two parties. The first one got cancelled (no electricty) and our babysitter couldn't make it so we also missed the second party.

Although a bummer, missing the parties was trivial (unless you spent a lot money on that not used Halloween costume) compared to the thousands of homeowners that lost electricity throughout the valley and had downed trees and damage throughout their neighborhood. Even 4 and 5 days after Saturday's storm, parts of the Lehigh Valley were still without electric.

How does the Winter affect Selling your Lehigh Valley Home?

For now, let's just present a couple of different scenarios when it is cold and snowy outside:

The Home Buyer enters the home, the lights are all on, it is clean, warm and the fire is going in the fireplace. You can picture yourself sitting there drinking a warm mug of hot chocolate listening to the crackling fire!

Next house, the sellers have moved out. The home is empty. The heat is turned off, and the home may have been winterized so there is no working plumbing. Big stickers across the sinks and toilets don't help a buyer imagine living in the home. Especially in the cold months.

A lot of things affect selling a home in the winter. Nature ensures homes don't look as nice during the winter. The trees don't have any leaves. The flower garden may look like weeds. Curb appeal, which is very important in the sale of a home, is harder to achieve.

When wintry weather sets in, Lehigh Valley Home Sellers are tempted to cancel showings. This can be a major mistake!

If a potential home buyer is out in cold or bad weather they are probably motivated and not just tire kicking. If they like another home, they may not wait to see yours.

For all of your Lehigh Valley Real Estate information visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com 

Buying a Lehigh Valley Condo with FHA Financing

Buying a Condo in Lehigh Valley or anywhere in the country has become a problem for anyone trying to do FHA Financing.

In order to get FHA financing on a condo, the condo must be on the "Approved FHA" list. As government guidelines tighten, it is possible that the home you love is not FHA approved. What are your options?

The most common solution for the Lehigh Valley Home Buyer is to do a 20% down conventional loan. Most buyer's don't have that amount of accessible cash.

It may be possible to switch from an FHA mortgage to a 5% down conventional mortgage.

FHA Spot Approvals are not allowed on condos in the Lehigh Valley (the home itself is approved). The complete development must be approved.

For more real estate information, visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com

Selling Your Lehigh Valley Home as a Short Sale

Are you considering selling your Lehigh Valley Home in a Short Sale? The process, if not done correctly, can result in a painful experience with no end in sight.

If a hardship has caused financial problems the home sale may be necessary. The problem is if you owe too much money on the home a normal sale may not work.

A mistake I commonly see is that the home seller first attempts to sell the home for the amount of money they need to pay off the mortgage and cover all the costs. It doesn't matter how much is needed.

A Lehigh Valley Home Buyer will only pay for a home what it is worth based on viewing other homes and comparables. Plus if the buyer is getting a mortgage, the appraiser is going to determine the value of the home.

For instance, if the home seller owes $250,000 they may list the house for $275,000. In the meantime, the surrounding properties may be selling in the $230-$240,000 price range.

As the clock ticks, the home seller will get frustrated because they aren't getting any offers and possibly no showings. They may be struggling to pay their mortgage or maybe even not paying it. Foreclosure and sheriff sale notices may be getting sent. A home that may have been successfully sold in a short sale gets lost to a foreclosure.

At the first sign of problems, the Lehigh Valley Home Seller should look at their options:

The mortgage company should be consulted to determine how to proceed. A call to the Loss Mitigation Department and a request for a Short Sale application may be needed.

A Real Estate Agent should be consulted to help determine the value of the home and discuss how to agressively market and sell a potential short sale property,

There may be programs available to help offset the hardship and make the short sale easier.

Was the loan FHA? Is there PMI on it? Is there a home equity or cash-out refi that was taken out on the home? These are all questions which may affect how to proceed.

I work with Short Sale Solutions, a company that negotiates Short Sales daily and works directly with the Home Seller to streamline the process.

For all of your Lehigh Valley Real Estate Information, visit: www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com

Lehigh Valley Real Estate - September Monthly Market Update

Real Estate Data and Statistical information for Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley PA. Information about homes sales, under contract, and sold properties during the month of September, 2011 - including Foreclosures

Visit www.LehighValleyHomesOnline.com for your Complete real estate resource.

Lehigh Valley Home Inspections and Repairs

The Lehigh Valley Home Seller accepts an offer on their home and it is contingent on inspections.

What exactly does this mean?

There are Multiple Inspections that can be done throughout a Lehigh Valley Home Purchase.

Most home buyers know that they should have some type of Inspection performed on the Home.

Here are some of the most Common Inspections a buyer asks for on the Pennsylvania Agreement of Sale:

• Property (plumbing, electrical, roofing...should check out complete house interior and exterior)

• Wood Destroying Insect (termite, power post beetles, carpenter ants/bees)

• Radon

• Water (is the house on public water or well)

• Septic System (on-lot sewerage system)

• Lead Based Paint (if the home was built before 1978)

It is easy to Confuse the Meaning of "Property Inspection". This term is commonly used to mean anything on the property but in PA that is not the case.

Requesting a Property Inspection, as show in the above list, Does Not Imply that a Radon test or Septic...etc is included. These are separate inspections and should be requested as such when the offer is made on the property.

Other inspections that may occur in a home purchase are the Certificate of Occupancy (CO) and Appraisal. More about these in the next blog.

For all of your Lehigh Valley Real Estate Information, visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com

Lehigh Valley Real Estate Market Update - September 2011

Welcome to the Real Estate Market Update - What's going on with Lehigh Valley Real Estate?

This monthly video provides up-to-date statistical information about real estate in the Lehigh Valley including Northampton and Lehigh Counties.

Visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com for more Lehigh Valley Real Estate Information!

Lehigh Valley Home For Sale, Under Agreement, or Sold has Water Problems

 
As Hurricane Irene passed through the Lehigh Valley, home owners that never had water problems in their basement may all of sudden had a terrible weekend as water penetrated the home foundation. 

If the Lehigh Valley Home is for sale, under agreement, or recently sold it can cause even more problems.

How do you tell a buyer that has an offer on your home that you got water over the weekend?

What happens when the home buyer, that moved into a dry basement a month ago (property disclosure said...never got water in the basement), gets flooded? 

If the Home is For Sale, the PA Property Disclosure should be amended to state the water problem and how it was corrected. A Lehigh Valley Home Buyer needs to be made aware of the physical conditions of the property (positive or negative). Failure to disclose a known deffect in a home can land a home seller in court with a Failure to Disclose Lawsuit.

If the Home is Under Agreement, then the buyer should be notified about what happened. Hopefully, they will still purchase the home. They may want to view the property for their own assessment. The property disclosure should be changed to disclose the problem (and anything that may have been done to prevent it in the future) and the buyer should sign off on the changes.

If the Home was Sold recently, the new home owner may feel that the seller lied. There may be evidence of past water problems (Should the property inspection have found them? Who is responsible?). Each situation is unique. 

As evidenced this weekend, when Mother Nature kicks in all bets are off. Many homes that never had water problems sprung leaks.

The hurricane allowed me to see weak points in the grading in my backyard. A change in landscaping I did in the spring altered the water flow through the yard. I had large pools of flowing water within a few feet of my foundation.

If I had sold my home a month ago, I would not have known there was a problem.Would the home buyer be thinking ill of me? The property disclosure would have been correct when I filled it out. Talk about a "Gray" area.

For information about Lehigh Valley Real Estate, visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com